August 23, 2021

By Ryan Eakin

Canadian Baseball Network

From Ryan Spataro to Jordan Castaldo to Lee Delfino and others, the best hitters in the Intercounty Baseball League [IBL] during the 21st century have been just that — hitters.

Except, funnily enough, for the best hitter in IBL history.

Toronto Maple Leafs slugger Sean Reilly was drafted in the 29th round by the Minnesota Twins in the MLB’s amateur draft in 1995 as a pitcher and spent two seasons in the Twins organization’ before taking his talents to the IBL.

Reilly, who is nine hits away from 1,000 in his legendary IBL career, recalled how he found out that he got drafted by the Twins.

“I wasn’t really sure if I would be getting drafted or not because there were not a lot of Canadians getting drafted at the time,” said Reilly, who’s in his second stint with the Maple Leafs. “Simply being in the conversation about maybe getting drafted was an honour. I remember the [Toronto] Blue Jays and Twins being pretty interested in me and it just so happened that when I got home from school after day two of the draft, I had an answer on my machine saying, ‘Congratulations, you are a Minnesota Twin.’

“They said they were going to send someone up to talk to me and the rest was history.”

The IBL’s all-time home run king said being in the Twins’ organization was an experience that he will never forget.

“I was young for my age,” said Reilly, who is also the IBL’s all-time hits leader. “I was really young. I signed when I was 17 and got down there right after my 18th birthday. I had just stopped collecting baseball cards two years before that, so I was in the shower with guys who I was collecting cards for.

“It was a surreal experience. I had the opportunity to play with and against a lot of good guys who ended up making it to the major leagues, so I am lucky enough that I had that experience so I can tell my kids about it.”

After two seasons in the minors, Reilly, who goes by ‘Showtime’ to his teammates, joined the IBL as a member of the Hamilton Cardinals.

Reilly was unsure of the calibre of the league when he joined the IBL.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” said Reilly, who joined the league right after being cut by the Twins. “I was only 19 at the time and it was right when the league was taking off. I think the Butlers [former Blue Jays Rob and Rich Butler] joined right after and they raked, so it was a league that I knew was legit -- you had to know how to pitch in this league, no doubt about it.

“I struggled early on but made adjustments, but I eventually decided I would rather hit home runs than have sore arms anyways.”

In reality though, Reilly said his transition from pitching to hitter came rather innocently.

“I started out with Hamilton as a pitcher and we were pretty bad -- we were always at the bottom of the league. We were winning no more than three or five games a year and always down guys, so I always said, ‘Hey, I can hit a little bit if you need a guy.’

“I started making that conversion game by game and slowly stopped pitching over time, probably completely by my third season.”

The rest, as they say, is history.

Reilly is the IBL’s all-time home run and hits king, he is the only player in the history of the IBL to win the Triple Crown twice, he is a four-time league MVP, and a one-time league champion.

All of his accomplishments have come with the Kitchener Panthers and Barrie Baycats, outside of his 2004 championship win the Guelph Royals.

He said despite that, though, he will forever consider himself a Royal.

“I had always stayed in contact with Kevin Hinton [the legendary Royal who is third all-time in hits in the IBL] during the early 2000s and things were going pretty well for the Royals back then.

“They went back-to-back in ‘03 and ‘04 and I was fortunate enough to be on that ‘04 team. From there, I ended up moving to Guelph full time and stayed there until they weren’t able to field a team in 2011.

“Thankfully, that year, I was fortunate enough to come to Barrie with Hinton and won my first ever MVP there. The Baycats have always been a first-class organization and I never would have left if I didn’t live so far away.”

Reilly said the 2011 Baycats were one of the more talented teams he played on, despite being swept in the second round by the defunct Ottawa Fat Cats.

“We had a crazy lineup,” recalled Reilly. “We had Frankie Hare, Spataro, [Jeff] Cowan, Matt Logan, and others. It was insane and was truly one of the best lineups I have ever been in. Unfortunately, we ran into an Ottawa team that had nothing to lose and it kind of sucked -- being swept 4-0. It was a year I truly thought we had a legit chance to win the championship because we were even with [the] Brantford [Red Sox] all year.”

From there, Reilly returned to Guelph for the 2012 and 2013 seasons, only to request a trade midway through the 2013 season due to meddling ownership.

He would finish out his 2013 season with the Maple Leafs, hitting a total of 21 home runs, which to this day is still the most home runs hit by an IBL player in a single season.

From there, Reilly would then sign with the Panthers in 2014 and stayed there all the way through the 2017 season.

Reilly said he loved his time with the Panthers’ organization.

“I always wanted to hit in Kitchener,” laughed Reilly. “It takes a lot of pressure off of you, I am not going to lie to you -- balls seem to fly out of there.

“I had two or three of my best seasons in the league with Kitchener and they treated me well. I can’t say enough good things about the organization and some of the lifelong friends I made there, from Tanner Nivins, the Gordners, Mike Glinka, Mike Andrulis, and all of those guys.

“If it wasn’t for Guelph getting their [expletive] together in 2018, I would still be there.”

What makes Reilly’s time in Kitchener so special to him is a lot of his personal accomplishments came in the Panthers jersey, from becoming the IBL’s home run king, to becoming the IBL’s all-time hits leader, and to winning a pair of triple crowns.

Reilly said breaking records that have been around for decades will always mean something to him.

“You know what, when I first became a hitter, my goal was to get 20 hits. Literally heading into a season, my goal was to get to 20 hits. I thought if I could get 20 hits a season, I could keep building on that year after year, so this is all so incredible.

“There became a point where I said to myself ‘I could do some things if I actually applied myself.’ From that point onward, I took the game a bit more seriously. At the end of the day, it’s a game of confidence and a game of failure, so if you aren’t confident, you are done.

“Every time I come out on the field, I think I am the best hitter -- that’s my mental approach. It is a tough enough game, right? If you go 3-for-10, you are in the Hall of Fame, so that’s my approach.”

That approach has led to Reilly becoming the most decorated hitter in IBL history.

And now he is just nine hits away from 1,000.

He said reaching that milestone would mean everything to him.

“The fact that I am even within striking distance of 1,000 is crazy when you look at some of the guys who played in this league for years and never reached that number,” he said. “For me, I know a lot of this is longevity, but at the same time, you have to put up consistent numbers to do what I am doing, so it’s special.

“It’s also a record that I don’t ever think will be broken, not just because of the talent but because guys don’t play that long anymore. You see guys packing it in at 25 and outside of guys like [Maple Leafs' manager Damon] Topolie and [Welland Jackfish catcher Andrew] Mercier, the oldest guys in this league are in their early 30s.

“So I think a lot of my records will never be broken.”